Chemical.

Street-Sellers of Blacking.

There are at present 230 vendors of blacking in the London streets. 210 of these sell cake and liquid blacking, each taking 6s. weekly, while the 20 others “work” the Mews with a superior kind of blacking, taking 15s. each; thus there is a yearly expenditure in the sale of blacking in the streets of 4,056 0 0

Street-Sellers of Black-Lead.

There are, I am informed, 100 to 150 persons selling and hawking black-lead in the streets; it may be estimated that they take 4s. each weekly (the adults selling other small articles with the black-lead); thus we find--averaging the number of sellers at 125--that there is expended yearly in the street-sale of this article 1,300 0 0

Street-Sellers of French Polish.

The French-polish-Sellers, I am assured by a man familiar with the business, take 2s. a day each; the 2s. leaves a profit of 10d. The street expenditure is, therefore (reckoning five regular sellers) annually 156 0 0

Street-Sellers of Grease-removing Composition.

Calculating that 7 grease-removers carry on the sale of the article 3 days each week, and clear 1s. 6d. per day, we find a yearly expenditure on this commodity equal to 81 18 0

Street-Sellers of Plating-Balls.

Reckoning that 4 men are engaged in selling plating-balls 3 days in each week, and that each take 2s. a day, we find there is an annual outlay on the sale of this article of 62 8 0

Street-Sellers of Corn Salve.

Calculating that 8 of these traders take 10s. weekly, we find there is expended in the streets on this salve 208 0 0

Street-Sellers of Glass and China-Cement.

There are at present 4 men vending this article in the streets of London, and if each seller take 5s. weekly (of which 4s. may be profit), we find there is expended yearly by street customers in this cement 52 0 0

Street-Sellers of Razor Paste.

Calculating that 6 men “work” the metropolis daily, taking 2s. each per day (with 1s. 2d. profit), we find the amount of the street outlay to be upwards of 187 0 0

Street-Sellers of Crackers and Detonating-Balls.

I am assured that for a few days last November, from 50 to 60 men and women were selling crackers in the streets. The most intelligent man that I met with, acquainted, as he called it, “with all the ins and outs of the trade,” calculated that during the month of November and at Christmas, 100l. at least was expended in the streets in these combustibles, and another 100l. at other times of the year, thus giving altogether a yearly outlay of 200 0 0

Street-Sellers of Lucifer-Matches.

Supposing that each of the 200 traders take, on lucifers alone, but 4s. weekly, selling nine dozen (with a profit to the seller of from 1s. 9d. to 2s. 6d.), we find on lucifer-matches bought in the streets an annual outlay of 2,080 0 0

Street-Sellers of Cigar-Lights or Fuzees.

It will, I believe, be accurate to state that in the streets there are generally 100 persons subsisting, or endeavouring to subsist, on the sale of fuzees alone. It may be estimated also that each of these traders averages a receipt of 10d. a day (with a profit exceeding 6d.), so that the sum yearly laid out in the streets in this way amounts to 1,300 0 0

Street-Sellers of Gutta-Percha Heads, &c.

There are at present, I am informed, 30 persons selling gutta-percha heads in the streets, some of them confining their business solely to those articles. Their average receipts, I am assured, do not exceed 5s. a week each, for, though some may take 15s. a week, others, and generally the stationary head-sellers, do not take 1s. The profit to the street retailer is one-third of his receipts. From this calculation it appears, that if the present rate of sale continue, the sum spent yearly in these street toys is 390 0 0

Street-Sellers of Fly-Papers and Beetle-Wafers.

Last summer, I was informed, there were 50 or 60 persons selling fly-papers and beetle-wafers in the streets; some of them boys, and all of them of the general class of street-sellers, who “take” to any trade for which 1s. suffices as capital. Their average earnings may be estimated at 2s. 6d. a day, about one-half being profit. This gives a street outlay, for a “season” of ten weeks, of 375 0 0

Street-Sellers of Poison for Rats.

Calculating 25 sellers of rat-poison, and each taking on an average 1s. daily for the sale of their article, we find that the sum annually expended upon this commodity amounts to 390 0 0